"Shamelessness truly knows no bounds!"
A clear, melodious voice, like that of a lark in a mountain stream, suddenly pierced the suffocating oppression in the courtyard.
The voice carried a hint of cool mockery, yet it was like a refreshing breeze that instantly brightened the murky air.
Everyone turned to look in the direction of the sound.
Zhou Qiqi was already standing at the entrance of the main room, with Shen Huaichuan's tall figure standing half a step behind her like a guardian deity.
Her face showed no anger, and there was even a faint smile on her lips, but her eyes were clear and piercing.
She walked over calmly and stood silently opposite Li Guixiang, in front of Zhou Shuhua, who was also trembling with anger.
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, he managed to shield Zhou Shuhua behind him, completely blocking Li Guixiang's spittle-flecked, mean face.
Then, she loosely crossed her arms over her chest, leisurely looking at the couple at the gate of the courtyard, her gaze precisely locking onto Li Guixiang.
"you say,"
Zhou Qiqi's voice, as clear as a lark's, entered everyone's ears.
"Back then, my parents personally handed me over to you, didn't they?"
Li Guixiang felt a sudden jolt in her heart as she was stared at, but relying on her "trump card," she immediately straightened her back and raised her voice even higher:
"Nonsense! Of course it is! Who in the whole village doesn't know? Otherwise, how could you, a good-for-nothing, have survived to this day?"
"Oh, I see. Well then..."
Zhou Qiqi nodded slightly, her smile deepening, but it lacked warmth.
"Where's the evidence? You can't just make empty promises; there needs to be some proof, right?"
"A voucher? Ha!"
Li Guixiang seemed to have been waiting for this sentence. A hint of smugness flashed in her triangular eyes. She immediately reached into her bosom and pulled out a crumpled, yellowed, and dark piece of paper.
She flung the paper open with a "whoosh," holding it high, almost shoving it in Zhou Qiqi's eyes, spitting as she did so.
"Open your eyes and look carefully! This is irrefutable evidence! The bloody handprints your parents left before they breathed their last! Black and white on paper... uh, red handprints! This means they entrusted you to the Xu family! How could this be fake?"
Sure enough, the paper had two dark reddish-brown handprints with blurred edges, which looked quite old and exuded an indescribable sense of misery and eeriness.
Zhou Qiqi's gaze lingered on the paper for two seconds, her expression remaining unchanged.
She tilted her head slightly and continued to ask:
"Based on this? Based on your own words alone, plus these two handprints? Were there any other people present at the time? Who personally saw my parents put their handprints on the document and say that they were entrusting me to you?"
Li Guixiang's smug expression froze for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure and then stubbornly shouted:
"No! Those two had a deadly cholera! How many people died in the nearby villages and towns? Everyone was trying to avoid it, who would dare to go near them? Apart from the doctor sent down from the town clinic to deliver medicine, who was dressed in thick clothes and covered up completely, he went in for a quick look, but there wasn't a soul in sight! Only my wife and I were kind-hearted and fearless, so we dared to go and take care of them!"
"oh."
Zhou Qiqi drew out her words, nodded knowingly, and her eyes were almost overflowing with mockery.
"So that means there are no other witnesses? Besides this piece of paper, is there any other corroborating evidence to prove what my parents said or did before they died? Were there any letters?"
Li Guixiang was a little stumped by her question. Her triangular eyes darted around quickly. She wanted to refute but couldn't find the words, so she could only bite the bullet and shout:
"No...so what? The situation was dire! He was on his deathbed, how could he have thought about writing any of those damn letters? The fact that he had the strength to put his fingerprint on the document and entrust you to someone else was already an immense favor! What more do you want?"
"Yeah?"
The faint smile on Zhou Qiqi's lips finally froze, turning into a cold and intensely sarcastic arc. Her clear eyes stared directly at Li Guixiang, and she spoke clearly, word by word.
"So, in other words, your so-called irrefutable evidence is merely these two bloody handprints of unknown origin, date, place, and author? There are no written statements from the parties involved, no other valid corroborating evidence. Even..."
She paused deliberately, watching as the feigned composure on Li Guixiang's face began to crumble, before slowly continuing:
"Even whether these two bloody handprints were made by my parents when they were alive, only the two of you know that?"
"fart!"
Li Guixiang was thoroughly enraged and panicked by her casual questioning, and began to hurl insults.
"If they didn't do it, who else could it be? You little slut, trying to renege on your debt? People were almost dead, they didn't even care about their own lives, who had time to care about a worthless piece of trash like you? The fact that your Zhou family entrusted you to the Xu family, giving you a way out, is already a blessing from your ancestors! Don't push your luck..."
Her shrill shouts stopped abruptly.
"Yeah?"
Because after Zhou Qiqi said those two words, she finally made a move.
Under the astonished, puzzled, and inquisitive gazes of everyone, she calmly and carefully took out something wrapped in thick oil paper from the handbag she was carrying.
Her slender fingers deftly untied the thin hemp rope wrapped around the outside, peeling away the layers of waterproof and moisture-proof oil paper.
Finally, an envelope, also yellowed but perfectly preserved, was revealed inside.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com